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Neolithic land-use and environmental degradation: a study from the Western Isles of Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2015

Coralie M Mills ,
Ian Armit ,
Kevin J Edwards ,
Pamela Grinter  and
Ymke Mulder
Coralie M Mills
Affiliation:
AOC Archaeology Group, Edgefield Road Industrial Estate, Loanhead, Midlothian EH20 9SY, UK (Email: [email protected])
Ian Armit
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Kevin J Edwards
Affiliation:
Department of Geography & Environment and Northern Studies Centre, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3U, UK
Pamela Grinter
Affiliation:
The Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, Arts Building, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Ymke Mulder
Affiliation:
Mjölnerbacken 76, 17460 Sundbyberg, Sweden
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Abstract

Investigation of a partially waterlogged Neolithic site, on an islet in a Scottish Hebridean loch, showed that early strategies of exploitation were already environmentally damaging. Loss of soil fertility through intensive ploughing is well-documented, but stripping the turf can be equally damaging to the environment. Working on the lake settlement of Eilean Domhnuill in North Uist, the authors show that turf was cut for building material and used as fuel and that this practice contributed to a rapid degradation of the land surface through erosion.

Keywords

NeolithicScotlandenvironmentfuelerosionAMS dates
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 78 , Issue 302 , December 2004 , pp. 886 - 895
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2004

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